Apple India revenues up by 51%, India one of the fastest growing markets, says Cook

The latest earnings call of Apple once again shows why the Cupertino giant is so bullish on India. As global iPhone sales dropped for a second straight quarter, India witnessed an increase of 51% in iPhone sales.

Apple sold 40.4 million iPhones in the third quarter which was 15% less than the same period last year. However, it did manage to surpass the 40.02 million estimate of analysts by a small margin.

What’s important to know here, is the fact that Apple sold 51% more iPhones in India over the past nine months. Although India contributes less than 1% of global revenues (as per FY 2014-15), rising revenues for Apple are a definitive good sign. The Cupertino giant too, on its part, has been aggressively campaigning its iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models with the ‘Shot on iPhone’ ads becoming prominent on TVs and billboards.

And this is just the beginning. This number is certain to go up from here due to upcoming single brand retail stores in India. As the government has now relaxed norms of local sourcing for retail companies with cutting edge technology, Apple is expecting to open its own stores in India soon.

Talking about the same, Tim Cook said during the earnings call,

India is now one of our fastest growing markets. In the first three quarters of this fiscal year, our iPhone sales in India were up 51% year on year. We’re looking forward to opening retail stores in India down the road, and we see huge potential for that vibrant country.

Earlier this year, Tim Cook personallyvisited India to have a close look at the conditions. He met PM Narendra Modi and key executives of major companies with whom Apple is said to be planning partnerships for the Indian market.

Notably, iPhones sales also increased in Japan, Turkey, Brazil, Canada and Sweden in addition to India. All these countries witnessed a double-digit growth in iPhone sales.

iPhones contribute 60% of the total revenues of Apple and hence form an important product line. Except the above-mentioned markets, their sales are falling almost everywhere including China.

As a result of falling global iPhone sales, Apple is now also focussing on services segment. This includes the App Store, Apple Pay, iCloud and other services.

The services segment include the App Store, Apple Pay, iCloud and other services. The good thing for Apple is that it has also witnessed an encouraging result in this segment. These services recorded nearly $6 billion in revenue last quarter. And this was 18.9 percent higher than the previous year.